A substance abuse counselor has been charged with driving under the influence in a fatal crash that killed three people and injured numerous others in a NYC park on July 4th, law enforcement sources have reported.
Daniel Hyden, 44, from Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, has been identified by authorities as the driver of the gray F-150 that drove into Corlears Hook Park in the Lower East Side on Thursday evening.
NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddey told reporters that the driver was speeding on Water Street before blowing through a stop sign and jumping the sidewalk around 9 p.m., when he barreled into the park and struck people there celebrating the Fourth of July.
Authorities say a total of 11 people were hit, including the three who lost their lives. The dead were identified by senior police officials as 59-year-old Lucille Pinkney, her 38-year-old son, Herman Pinkney, and 43-year-old Ana Morel. A fourth person, identified as a 30-year-old woman, was hospitalized in critical condition.
Hyden’s LinkedIn profile says he has been a program director of three residential treatment centers in Manhattan, an author, public speaker, and addiction clinician. His profile also states he is a “credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor.” In 2020, he published “The Sober Addict: Guide on How to Be Functional With the Dysfunctional Disease of Addiction.”
“My jobs are my passions and each allows me to advocate on behalf of all those impacted by the disease of addiction. My mission is to use my lifelong experience with addiction to teach addicts how to save themselves and achieve long term recovery,” Hyden’s profile bio reads.
Two senior police officials told NBC New York that the incident appears to have occurred after a fight at Pier 36 between Hyden and another man around 8 p.m. The venue would not allow him to enter because he was too drunk, according to police officials, which set him off, as he said he had already paid for a ticket.
The venue then reportedly gave him a refund and he drove off. About 50 minutes later, the crash happened.
Police said that witnesses pulled him out of the truck and held him until officers arrived. He was then treated for head and facial lacerations, and later charged with driving under the influence. He faces additional charges of assault, driving recklessly, aggravated vehicular homicide, and driving without as license.
